Porcupine Gorge to the north of Hughenden Queensland

Tuesday, Sep 01, 2009 at 00:00

Motherhen

From Hughenden, we go north on the Kennedy Developmental Road to Porcupine Gorge National Park. The first lookout in the National Park is sixty kilometres from Hughenden, with the Pyramid being a further eleven kilometres.

There are a number of signed points of interest along the road from Hughenden. These include Whistling Bore, where a capped bore can be heard humming or whistling as air rushes out according to atmospheric pressure. It was put down to provide water for a stock route. There is now a large dam with windmill nearby.

At Eagle Hawk Gorge Lookout, the southern start of the Porcupine Creek gorge can be seen. The gorge runs for 100 kilometres northwards from here.

Basalt formations are attributed to Mount Desolation, an extinct volcano located nearby. This basalt tableland has both red and black volcanic soils.

Covering an area of 5,410 hectares, Porcupine Gorge National Park extends for more than 25 kilometres along Porcupine Creek. The gorge takes its name from the echidnas (also called porcupines because of their spiny quills) inhabiting the surrounding scrub. The canyon has been carved by Porcupine Creek out of basalt lava capped sandstone, with soft colours of the walls towering 150 metres over the creek. Red and black basalt rocks can be seen.

Porcupine Gorge Lookout

A walk can be taken down into the gorge where 964 steps have been cut into the rock on the trail down to the valley floor.

In this wider section of the gorge the eroding action of the creek has created the pyramid shaped monolith of multi-coloured sandstone rising from the floor of the gorge. The creek forms a pool as it turns at the base of the pyramid.